NEWS

Cost of possible Meridian Twp. drain project unknown

Dawn Parker
Lansing State Journal

MERIDIAN TWP. — A pond in an Okemos condominium complex and the drain system it’s part of are breaking down and need to be repaired.

How much it will cost and whether the Ingham County Drain Commissioner’s office will take on the Daniels Drain project remains to be seen. But a special meeting Tuesday of the township board drew residents concerned about what would be done and who would pay for it.

“The fact they’re alerting us this early in the process — that was a very nice opportunity for us to see what the condominium residents would like to see happen,” said Cecelia Kramer, president of the Forest Hills Homeowners’ Association.

At issue is a 2.8-acre pond in The Ponds development, just off West Grand River. The pond was dug in 1972, well before the construction of the condominiums in 1986.

Water quality issues with the pond have surfaced, assistant township manager and public works director Derek Perry said. The contamination appears to stem from two sources: road salt runoff from nearby Grand River Avenue and chemicals from lawn fertilizer use.

The runoff of chlorides and phosphorus have led to the growth of invasive plant life in the pond, condominium representatives say. There are also structural issues with the pond, including sinkholes caused by the failure of underground pipes leading to it. Some 75 trees have died on the condo complex property and excess rain has also shorted out wiring and damaged walkways, according to the condo association.

Some 340 individual parcels are affected, including homeowners in the Chief Okemos, Forest Hills and Cornell Woods neighborhoods and possibly a portion of Whispering Oaks neighborhood. There are 144 condos in the development, but officials said those condos, through their association, constitute one owner.

Kramer lives “two long blocks” from the pond. In the last year, Forest Hills homeowners were informed the rear half of their lots were added to the Daniels Drain. Kramer’s neighbors are now concerned.

“Everyone’s first question is, ‘How much will it cost me?” she said.

None of the agencies represented at the meeting had a clear answer to that question.

An environmental consultant said repairs could range from $350,000 to $1 million.

Not so, Ingham County Drain Commissioner Pat Lindemann told a special meeting of the township board.

“Until we get a petition we have no idea of the cost,” Lindemann said, adding a full-fledged environmental and engineering study would have to be done.

Perry said the township’s “very preliminary” original estimate of the work ran as high as $2 million. GEI Consultants representative Scott Dierks, the firm hired by the condo association, presented the lower cost figures Tuesday, saying the final bill would depend on which of two alternatives is carried out.

The Ponds Cooperative Association president Tom Maleck said the association would get one bill for its share of any work, as it is a cooperative rather than a traditional condominium association. He did not elaborate on how individual owners would be billed.

The Michigan Department of Transportation, the Ingham County Road Department, Meridian Township and the residents could all be responsible for a portion of the cost. It’s not yet clear how the bill would be divided.

Maleck said he’s watched the pond degrade for at least five years.

“Five years from now we’ll have only weeds,” he said.

The pond can’t be filled in either, Maleck said, as that would violate state and federal laws governing runoff amounts.

The project can’t move forward unless the township board votes to ask Lindemann to complete the project.

“As soon as we get the petition we’ll be ready to go to work,” Lindemann said.

Contact Dawn Parker at 517-377-1056 or dlparker@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter at @arwen22266.